The idea for this card came about after seeing some of the stamps and artwork on this site. Since I didn’t have a “hello” stamp that looked like calligraphy, I decided I would draw my own. My calligraphy marker went missing during my last desk reorganization (I can never find things when I clean up–somehow it seemed like a good place to put it at the time!) but then I remembered coming across “fake calligraphy” when I was working on another project.

I practiced a few times on a piece of scrap paper until I had a good feel for it. I used a fine tip black marker to draw the word “hello”, then went over it with the clear Wink of Stella pen. I matted the white card stock on Basic Black card stock, layered with Silver Glimmer Paper.

The card base is Pool Party card stock. I folded it at 5 1/4″, then used the Scalloped Edge Punch along the bottom. I stamped the flower image from Creative Elementsin black ink.

To finish the card, I tied some 5/8″ Satin Black Ribbon around the card front.

Blended Bloomis a great all occasion stamp for coloring with Blendabilities Markers. The markers come in three shades (dark, medium, and light) which makes shading and blending very easy. For this birthday card, I colored the flower with the Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities, then cut it out. The center was colored with Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie Blendabilities.

I used the Elegant Lines Embossing Folder on Very Vanilla card stock, added a strip of cherry cobbler card stock, then adhered the flower on top with stampin dimensionals.

The sentiment is from Endless Birthday Wishes.I used the oval punch to cut it out, then added 2 Basic Rhinestones that I colored with the cherry cobbler Blendabilities. These alcohol markers can color anything–buttons, pearls, rhinestones.

Here is another example of the flower from Blended Bloom, colored with Old Olive Blendabilities Markers. The card base is In Color Blackberry Bliss, layered with Hello Honey. The sentiment is from a stamp I had on hand. I like the flower colored in green–it reminds me of an artichoke for some reason and looks so pretty.

I used My Digital Studio (MDS) to create my son’s birthday invitations, decorations, and thank you cards. I used the Under Construction Birthday Ensemble download. This first one is the invitation I decided on, but I also made a few other versions using the ensemble.

Here is another option for the construction theme invitation.

I made food labels in MDS also, printed on Soft Slate card stock. The font used was Stencil Std. We used trucks to hold the chips and snacks. I got many of the ideas on Pinterest.

I jazzed up a banner I purchased by adding my son’s name on “tires”. I made the tires by making rosettes or accordion folded paper pinwheels with black card stock, scoring it every 1/2″, folding it back and forth. Each “tire” used one sheet of 8 1/2″ x 11″ card stock

For the centerpieces, I filled little metal pails (from Target Dollar Spot) with candy and added another accordion fold pinwheel. Orange, white and yellow balloons were tied to the pails as well. I don’t have a picture of them in tact but this is the pinwheel. I printed the image in MDS also.